bonheur French · revision 17237

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=c. 1121 (bon oür)|origins=la augeō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bɔ.nœʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''bonheur''' ''m'' (plural bonheurs)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''bon eür'', ''bon oür'', in two words, ''bon heur'', ''bon-heur'' in the 16th century.^(Littré 1873)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a compound [[af|fr|bon|heur|t2=luck, fortune]].^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873)^(Wiktionary) [[heur]], Old French “aür”, “eür”, is from [[la|augurium|alt=agurium|t=omen]], an altered form of classical “augurium” “omen, augury”; with the decline of pagan beliefs it came to mean fortune, good or bad.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992) “Augurium” belongs to the family of [[m|la|augeō|t=to increase]].^(DHLF 1992) Bloch and Wartburg attribute part of the success of “bonheur” to the clash between “heur” and [[heure]], from which “heur” took its “h”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Compare [[oc|bonur]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ ''Bon oür'' “happy fate, good fortune” is first found about 1121; the Châtelain de Coucy (12th century) writes ''joie d'amour, se bon eür m'i maine'' “the joy of love, if good luck leads me to it”.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Littré notes that the etymology shows the original sense to be “good luck”, the sense close to “felicity” being secondary.^(Littré 1873) The old sense survives in ''porter bonheur'', ''par bonheur'', ''au petit bonheur'' and ''avoir le bonheur de''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse) From the 15th century it came to mean the state of a fully satisfied mind, happiness, now its main sense.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989) Meanwhile ''heur'' fell out of use after about 1660–70, surviving only in ''avoir l'heur de plaire'', ''malheur'' was formed in the same way.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) ''Ne pas connaître son bonheur'' is recorded in 1643.^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1121 – ''Bon oür'' “good fortune”.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 15th century – “Happiness”.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ * 1643 – ''Ne pas connaître son bonheur''.^(BHVF)

+ * c. 1660–70 – The simple ''heur'' goes out of use.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|happiness]], bliss: ''le bonheur'', ''faire le bonheur de quelqu'un''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A joy, a pleasure: ''quel bonheur de vous revoir!''^(Larousse)

+ # Good [[m|en|luck]], good fortune: ''porter bonheur'', ''par bonheur'', luckily, ''au petit bonheur'', at random.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(literary)'' ''Avec bonheur'': successfully, felicitously, ''un bonheur d'expression''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[porte-bonheur]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[heur]]

+ * [[malheur]]

+ * [[heureux]]

+ * [[bon]]

+ * [[augure]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}